St. John's is the oldest European settlement in North America, founded on the feast of St. John The Baptist, June 24, 1497.
The Italian navigator John Cabot, who sailed under English flag, was the first European since the Vikings verifiably known to have reached America. The 500th anniversary of his landing in what he named New Founde Lande was celebrated in 1997. St. John's became the oldest British colony in North America as, on August 5, 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert took possession of the region for England. The settlement changed hands several times between France and England, until becoming permanently British in 1762 and serving as a naval base during both the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.
Many of the St. John's earliest settlers came from the Southeast of Ireland, primarily Waterford, Wexford and Kilkenny. This would explain the similarity between accents from that part of Ireland and Newfoundland.
It was at St. John's that Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless message, and it was from there that the first nonstop transatlantic flight was made in 1919 by Alcock and Brown.
During the Second World War, the harbour was used by Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy ships used for protecting convoys. It was also the site of a large US Army base called "Fort Pepperrell". This base was established as part of the "Lend-lease" agreement between the UK and USA.
Geography
The city is located on the northeast coast of the Avalon Peninsula, in southeastern Newfoundland island, and on the Atlantic Ocean. In fact, it is the easternmost city in North America. The downtown area exists to the north of St. John's Harbour and the rest of the city expands uphill and to the west, north, and east. The city of Mount Pearl borders St. John's to the east, and is substantially smaller in population, yet only slightly smaller in size. St. John's is the largest city in Division No. 1. The following table is a representation of St. John's and its surrounding areas:
North:Torbay, Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove , and Flatrock , and Pouch Cove
The majority of the population descends from both Ireland and England.
The accent heard in St. John's is very similar to that of Waterford, Ireland.
Tradition declares that the city earned its name when explorer John Cabot became the first European to sail into its harbour, on June 241497 — the feast day of Saint John the Baptist.
The city is the centre of business, education, and government for the province.
St. John's is currently the only Canadian city served by radio stations whose call letters do not begin with the letter C. Four stations in St. John's use the ITU prefixVO: VOCM (AM and FM), VOAR and VOWR. VO was assigned to the Dominion of Newfoundland before the province joined Canadian Confederation in 1949, and these stations kept their existing call letters. However, other commercial radio stations in St. John's which went to air after 1949 use the same range of prefixes (CF–CK) currently in use elsewhere in Canada. VO remains in use in amateur radio
